© 2025 WEKU

NPR for Northern, Central and Eastern Kentucky

Support WEKU!

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

Help WEKU make up the $240,000 annual loss in federal funds by giving extra or joining the 1850 Campaign. 1850 new supporters giving at least $10 a month. Great news! We are down to 732 to go! Click here to support WEKU!

How a friend helped bring a former fellow Army vet back to the U.S.

NPR

By Scott Simon

Published September 27, 2025 at 7:45 AM EDT

As part of our StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative, we hear from Army veterans Laura Meza and Livy Lazaro - both children of immigrants - who joined the military after high school.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Scott Simon

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.

See stories by Scott Simon

Support nonprofit, fact-based public service journalism

WEKU depends on support from those who view and listen to our content. There's no paywall here. Please support WEKU with your donation.

Contribute now

Related Content

NPR News

4 essential conversations every interracial couple should have

Davon Loeb

For a strong and lasting relationship, don't be afraid to talk about each other's racial differences — and do enjoy the process of creating a new, blended family culture.
NPR News

4 essential conversations every interracial couple should have

Davon Loeb

For a strong and lasting relationship, don't be afraid to talk about each other's racial differences — and do enjoy the process of creating a new, blended family culture.
NPR News

Opinion: 'Free speech doesn't work just when you agree with it'

Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon recalls a First Amendment case from the late 1970s involving the rights of a neo-Nazi group to march through a predominantly Jewish suburb of Chicago.
A look at former FBI Director James Comey's indictment

Ryan Lucas

We examine the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey after President Trump called for several of his political enemies -- including Comey -- to be prosecuted.
Experts say Trump's TikTok deal payment is a shakedown

Geoff Brumfiel

The U.S. government will collect a multibillion-dollar payment from the American investors who will take over TikTok. Some experts call it a fee and other deals like it "extortion."